The Almanac
Today is Sunday, Aug. 14, the 227th day of 2016 with 139 to follow. The
moon is waxing. Morning stars are Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are
Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn and Neptune. Those born on this date are
under the sign of Leo. They include pioneer German psychologist Richard
von Krafft-Ebing in 1840; American West figure Doc Holliday in 1851;
naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton in 1860; writer Ernest Thayer ( Casey
at the Bat ) in 1863; English novelist John Galsworthy in 1867; writer
Russell Baker in 1925 (age 91); actor Alice Ghostley in 1926; singer
Buddy Greco in 1926 (age 90); baseball Hall of Fame member Earl Weaver
in 1930; musician David Crosby in 1941 (age 75); comedian Steve Martin
in 1945 (age 71); actor Susan Saint James in 1946 (age 70); author
Danielle Steele in 1947 (age 69); The Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson
in 1950 (age 66); composer James Horner in 1953 (age 63); actor Marcia
Gay Harden in 1959 (age 57); basketball Hall of Fame member Earvin
Magic Johnson in 1959 (age 57); stage soprano Sarah Brightman in 1960
(age 56); actor Halle Berry in 1966 (age 50); actor Mila Kunis in 1983
(age 33); football player Tim Tebow, winner of the Heisman Trophy in
2007, in 1987 (age 29). On this date in history: In 1784, Grigory
Shelikhov, a Russian fur trader, founded the first permanent Russian
settlement in Alaska on Kodiak Island. In 1900, about 2,000 U.S.
Marines joined with European forces to capture Beijing, ending the
Boxer Rebellion against the Western presence in China. In 1935, the
U.S. Congress passed the Social Security Act and President Franklin D.
Roosevelt immediately signed it into law. In 1945, U.S. President Harry
Truman announced that Japan had accepted terms for unconditional
surrender. Japan formally surrendered Sept. 2, officially ending World
War II. In 1966, the unmanned U.S. Orbiter 1 spacecraft began orbiting
the moon. In 1994, the notorious international terrorist known as
Carlos the Jackal was captured in Sudan. The next day he was extradited
to France, where he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in
prison. In 1995, following a long legal battle, Shannon Faulkner was
admitted to the cadet corps of the previously all-male Citadel. She
resigned from the South Carolina military school four days later. In
1996, the Republican Party nominated Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas for
president to face incumbent Bill Clinton in the November election. In
2003, a massive power failure spread through Ohio, Michigan, the
northeastern United States and eastern Canada, leaving 50 million
people in eight states and the province of Ontario without electricity
for as long as two days. In 2005, authorities said the crash of a
Helios Airways plane in Greece with 121 people aboard could have been
caused by a sudden drop in cabin pressure. There were no survivors. In
2006, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon ended in a
truce, effective on this date, after 34 days of fighting. In 2007,
Mattel, the world's largest toy company, recalled nearly 19 million
toys made in China, about half of them distributed in the United
States. Included were more than 400,000 toy cars said to be coated with
lead. In 2013, authorities said hundreds of people were killed and
thousands injured in clashes between Egyptian security forces and
demonstrators calling for the reinstatement of ousted President Mohamed
Morsi. In 2014, Major League Baseball owners chose MLB executive Rob
Manfred to succeed longtime MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. In 2015, after
54 years, the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba was re-opened amid a thawing
in relations. A thought for the day: Winning is a habit. Unfortunately,
so is losing. -- Vince Lombardi .
